Book Image

Getting Started with Paint.NET

Book Image

Getting Started with Paint.NET

Overview of this book

Paint.NET is a free, reliable program that rivals the most expensive photo editing programs currently on the market.Paint.NET supports plugins, which add image adjustments, effects, and support for additional file types. They can be programmed using any .NET programming language, though they are most commonly written in C#. This book will teach you everything you need to know to edit and manipulate images. Written with very clear walkthroughs, hands-on tutorials,and amazing resources, this book will turn you into a photo wizard with Paint.NET. The book starts with simple tool-based tasks, introduces you to the workpane and then builds up to more complex areas taking a deep dive into the commonly-used features of Paint.NET. With this book, you will learn how to do everything from making simple adjustments to full artistic rendering with tools not available in any other program. Starting with the very basics of photo editing, you will gain an understanding of the basic principles of manipulating images. From layering to special effects, this book will give you all the knowledge you need to create images that leave a lasting impression. This book has everything you need to make amazing, artistic photos using completely free software. Filled with fun exercises and valuable information, you will learn how to master every tool and every effect in Paint.NET. Within minutes, you will be able to resize images, make adjustments to brightness and contrast, and apply color correction. By the end of this book, you will be working with layers and effects to create images that rival some of the most advised and expensive pieces of software. With simple exercises and information, this book will take you from absolute novice to an accomplished photo editor quickly and easily.
Table of Contents (15 chapters)
Getting Started with Paint.NET
Credits
About the Authors
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Curves (Ctrl + Shift + M)


What Curves does is it allows you to adjust the amount of color and the luminosity (brightness) of each color shade within your image (red, blue, and green). This feature gives you a high degree of control in many aspects of your image. Because you can add ranges of adjustments based on intensity, you can use Curves to fine tune your image in ways that other adjustments can't.

The Curves interface

The Curves interface is an interactive grid that allows you to control aspects of an image with a simple line.

Horizontal values are the intensity input or the information going into the image and the vertical values are the intensity output or the information coming out of the image.

If you reshape the left half of the curve, it will affect the darker half of an image, and reshaping the right half will affect the brighter half. The diagonal line represents the image in its neutral position. If you move that line above the diagonal guideline, it will cause the affected areas...